


love me harder

by samalane



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Mostly Canon Compliant, Mutual Pining, Sheithlentines 2019, Slow-ish burn, allura is alive and shiro never retired, hashing out feelings, post-s8
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 06:42:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17913773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samalane/pseuds/samalane
Summary: When Keith tells Shiro he's been ordered to take leave and needs a place to stay, Shiro is glad for the opportunity to do Keith a favour and re-connect with his best friend, even if he doesn't know the entire situation. And if it means confronting old feelings and dealing with the newer ones, then so be it.





	love me harder

**Author's Note:**

> sheithlentines 2019 fic for becca / @cryopcds. i'm sorry it was so late, this thing got away from me and has turned out much longer than i expected it to be. i hope it's what you were looking for!
> 
> shoutout to ariana grande for the title, and big thanks to nele for assisting and betaing, as usual.

Shiro wakes to the sound of ringing.

Confused and still mostly asleep, he struggles to sit up, flailing out of the sheets and trying to locate the source of the noise. An alarm? Are they under attack?

But just as his blood gets pumping, it hits him — his datapad. He’s stationed on Earth, has been for the last few years. It’s just someone calling him at —he checks the holographic clock— three in the morning.

It’s maybe slightly less alarming than an alarm sounding, but only just — nothing good has ever come of a phone call in the dead of night.

With a groan, Shiro runs a hand through his hair and then picks up his tablet, forgoing the Altean arm powered down on his night table. The ringing is insistent, and he squints against the light of the screen.

It’s Keith.

He swipes roughly at the screen, a sudden rush of adrenaline surging through him. Keith hasn’t called him at an hour like this in years — not since Curtis had finally gotten sick of their midnight calls and had interrupted politely, if stiffly, to tell Keith that it was the middle of the night and they were trying to sleep. Keith has been eerily punctual with his calls ever since, despite the fact that the divorce was over a year ago now, and Shiro never minded the late-night calls, eager to chat and catch up.

Something must be happening, then, if Keith is breaking his own rules.

Keith doesn’t look particularly concerned when his face shows up on the screen, but he does look exhausted. He shoots Shiro a small, apologetic smile as soon as they’re connected.

“Sorry,” he says. “I know you were sleeping.”

If there was an intergalactic issue at stake, he wouldn’t start with that. The knot in Shiro’s chest loosens a little, but only a little. Keith’s face is tight around the eyes.

“Is everything okay?” Shiro asks.

Half a dozen emotions flutter across Keith’s face in a matter of seconds, but he settles on a wry sort of look before Shiro can even begin to parse what any of them mean. “Politically? Yes, everything’s fine. No need to sound the alarm.”

“But personally?” Shiro pushes. Keith’s tired smile slips a little, and he shrugs.

“Nothing’s wrong, exactly. I just …have a favour to ask.”

Shiro frowns. Keith has never been the sort of person to beat around the bush, and the way he’s hesitating now has the alarm bells ringing once again.

“You can ask me anything,” he says, as reassuringly as possible. Some of the tension bleeds from Keith’s face.

“I need …can I crash with you for a while? I’m, uh, being forced to take leave.”

There are only a few moments in recent history in which Shiro can recall Keith taking leave. Once for his wedding, and again in the aftermath of his divorce. Their yearly meet-ups on Altea with the rest of the paladins and Coran.

Keith doesn’t take leave. If anything, Shiro’s pretty sure Keith has avoided returning to Earth as much as he can.

“What happened?” It sounds more accusing than he’d like. “I mean …you just don’t visit often.”

Keith looks a little guilty then, but he presses his lips together for a moment. “Nothing happened, exactly. My mother and Kolivan think I need a break. They’ve ordered me to take one. An, uh, extended one.”

“How long?” Shiro asks, already thinking about the bedsheets he’ll need to freshen in the wash, and whether he has a spare toothbrush on hand. Despite the worry gnawing at him, there’s a tiny spark of excitement. It’s been a year since he and Keith have spent any significant time together.

“Minimum one month. I can find a hotel or a short-term apartment, if you don’t want me around that long.” He says it in a rush, like there’s a chance Shiro would ever turn him out.

“Keith,” he says, smiling. “You can stay as long as you want to. You know I don’t mind.”

Another series of complicated emotions flit over Keith’s face, and for a moment he looks all of sixteen again, shocked at any small act of kindness — things Shiro had thought normal gestures between friends. But there’s relief, and then he smiles a little.

“Thanks, I know it’s sudden. I didn’t mean to dump this on you, especially at three in the morning. I just …needed to get it sorted.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Shiro says lightly, feeling a little better when Keith smiles again. “But seriously, you know you can call at any time, right? I’ll always answer.”

Keith’s smile turns a little wobbly, and Shiro is positive that something has happened. What, he’s not so sure, but he’s known Keith long enough to refrain from pressing the issue — he’ll talk when he’s ready. “When are you planning on arriving? I’ll pick you up.”

“Day after tomorrow?” A Friday — Shiro can take the afternoon off and meet Keith and the landing pad. Iverson will be more than happy to give him the time off — he’s been pressing Shiro to take more leave anyway.

“Sounds good. Send me the details and I’ll meet you when you land.”

Keith sighs. “Thanks for this.”

“You dealt with my midnight calls for months during the divorce,” Shiro reminds him. “This friendship goes both ways.”

Shiro doesn’t miss the way Keith’s smile tightens a little. “I’ll let you get back to sleep now. I’ll send you my arrival time when everything is set.”

“Thanks. You should get some sleep too, you look tired.”

That fragile expression settles over Keith’s face again. “Right, thanks. Sleep well.”

“Night, Keith.”

The screen goes dark, and then returns to the phone app as Keith hangs up. Shiro stares at his name and the profile picture (taken during their last group visit). Nervous energy buzzes through him, and he wonders what exactly has gotten Keith so rattled, and why his boss and mother feel the need to send him away for a month.

Something has happened, he’s sure of it. But until Keith is ready it talk to him about it, he’ll have to settle for simply helping Keith as much as he’ll allow it, and if providing him with a place to stay is what he wants, then that’s what Shiro will do.

  
—

  
Keith lands on Friday afternoon.

Shiro’s taken the afternoon off to greet him and get him settled in — Iverson had given him a look when he’d explained the situation, as if he knew something that Shiro hadn’t, but had agreed happily enough.

He’s excited in a way he hasn’t been in a long time. He misses Keith — has missed Keith ever since he’d decided Earth was no longer the place for him and returned to work with the Blades in order to help with the rebuilding of Galra society. From what Keith has told him, it sounds as though they’re trying to transition to a slightly more humanitarian mission, which sounds odd for an organisation built on a long history of assassination and espionage, but Shiro supposes that with most Galran rebellions quelled, there’s now a greater need for peacekeeping organisations than the latter.

There have been many times over the last few years that Shiro wishes Voltron was still around and working in a peacekeeping capacity. The Coalition is still going strong, with Allura and Lance at the helm, Hunk, Romelle, and Coran backing them up, but the rest of the paladins are largely uninvolved, having drifted to different organisations working in tandem with the Coalition. It’s not to say that Shiro doesn’t like what he’s doing — he’s happy enough where he is, and he likes his job, for the most part. He likes seeing Earth rebuild itself, more united and stronger than before, with the aid of Altean and Galran technology. He likes where he’s at, personally, despite everything that’s happened.

But there’s a part of him that misses it. Not the fight, exactly, but being part of a close-knit team — the camaraderie. Part of it is maybe that he never really got to experience it — not for long. He’s mostly at peace with the memories that don’t belong to him — but he finds himself missing something he never really had. He hasn’t quite figured out what to do with them, still.

Missing Keith is easy, at least. It’s expected, and the bond they have runs deep. He could say he missed Keith to anyone and they’d understand, but to say he missed Voltron, that he missed being a part of something bigger — that was harder to explain. The other Paladins might understand, but other people, he’s not so sure. 

Curtis hadn’t got it. He’d tried, to his credit, but how could he? How could he understand the feeling of owing someone a debt so deep it encompassed your entire bring? Shiro had tried to explain it, when things had been falling apart, when Keith had been dragged into the mess, placed at the centre of all their conflicts, because Curtis had —perhaps justly— called him the the third wheel in their relationship. Keith was always there, he’d yelled one night, even when he was several galaxies over, doing god-knows-what on one of the hundreds of planets he’d been to. He no idea how much trouble he caused, Curtis had said, and he couldn’t even blame Keith for it because he _didn’t know_.

So he’d blamed Shiro, in the end. He’d been right, about Keith, and it was Shiro who’d made him the unwitting third person in their relationship. Even with the benefit of hindsight, he wasn’t sure how it could have gone differently — he still didn’t know how he could have disentangled his life from Keith’s in the way Curtis needed him to.

What he does know is that he’d jumped into marriage far too fast, desperate for something normal and easy. Curtis had been normal and simple. Things had never been complicated with him, even during the divorce.

It’s lot, he muses to himself, checking the flight screen for Keith’s ship. It’s still a lot, a year later, and even though Shiro’s doing well and he’s glad to be where he is — it’s all still there, a tangled, knotted mess he hasn’t really gotten around to unwinding. Whatever he and Keith are, it’s muddled, at least for him. Curtis hadn’t been wrong, but Shiro still doesn’t know what to do with that knowledge.

Maybe having Keith around for a while will help him with that. At the very least, he gets to spend some one-on-one time with his best friend, and hopefully repay some of the kindness and understanding Keith has shown him over the years.

When Keith’s single-person jet finally enters the atmosphere, Shiro can’t help the grin that spreads across his face. The jet sleek and black, top of the line. He remembers Keith telling him about it a few months ago, excitement lacing his voice as he’d lovingly detailed the specs to Shiro.

When Keith finally enters the hangar and emerges from the ship, it’s with a sense of relief that Shiro embraces him.

“It’s good to have you back,” he says, squeezing Keith tight. He feels more than hears Keith laugh, and when he pulls away, Keith’s smiling a little.

“It’s good to be back.” His voice is hoarse, like he hasn’t spoken in a long time, and Shiro supposes there’s only so much you can say to your cosmic space wolf during an interstellar flight. Kosmo sits at the top of the ramp and wags his tail, watching.

Keith still looks tired. There are circles under his eyes, faint lines of exhaustion running beneath them. He looks like he’s about to fall over, and Shiro has to wonder how he convinced Krolia to let him fly alone.

“You look like you’re about to pass out,” Shiro says. The corner of Keith’s mouth quirks up, and he pushes away from Shiro.

“Thanks,” he says drily. Shiro grins a little and takes his bag from him. Keith doesn’t bother arguing about this, but just lets it happen.

“I like your hair though,” he says, tugging at the end of his short braid. It’s cute. “Going for the Kolivan look?”

“My mother asked the same thing,” Keith says. His eyes glint a little. “She says hi, by the way.”

“Hi back,” Shiro parrots. “Wanna head over to the apartment? Pidge wanted you to stop by the lab, but I think she’d understand if you wanted a nap.”

“A real bed sounds pretty good,” Keith admits. He gestures with his hand, and with a couple enthusiastic bounds Kosmo is right there beside him, panting and wagging his tail excitedly. Shiro buries a hand in the thick fur of his scruff and gives him the petting he deserves.

“Hey boy, did you take good care of Keith?” Shiro asks in the special baby voice he reserves solely for cats and dogs and other small animals. Kosmo snuffles and closes his eyes happily.

“Oh yes,” Keith says drily. “He was so helpful, panting in my ear and licking my face whenever he thought he thought he wasn’t getting enough attention. It’s almost like he doesn’t have the most varied toy collection in the entirety of the universe.” He says it with fond exasperation, and when he pets Kosmo, his hand brushes over Shiro’s. “Is it okay to leave my ship here?”

“Yeah, Iverson’s granted you permission to use this hanger during your visit.”

“I’ll have to thank him,” Keith says, pulling out his datapad. With a few swiping motions, the ramp lifts and a sleek back door follows, sealing itself shut with a hiss. It’s one hell of a ship, one the Blades must have given him. He’s usually on missions with Acxa, Exor, and Zethrid, Shiro knows — all of whom he’d sort adopted, in the aftermath of the war. He doesn’t usually get to ride solo — he must have jumped at the chance to take his own jet and fly with only Kosmo for company.

He’s honestly a little surprised that they weren’t sent to accompany him (it’s a rare day indeed when Ezor isn’t interrupting their calls to say hi to Shiro). He wonders if they know what’s happening, but figures they must.

It doesn’t matter, he reminds himself. Keith has asked for his help, and he’ll talk about the reason why when he’s ready — it’s how he’s always been. Right now, what Shiro can do is provide the basic comforts of a home, to make him feel as confortable as possible.

The first thing on that list is a bed, closely followed by food. He hefts Keith’s bag higher up on his shoulder and smiles.

“Alright, let’s go.”

  
—

  
His apartment is small —made even smaller by a certain cosmic space wolf who’s grown to be twice the size of a regular wolf— so the tour is short. Living room, kitchen, bathroom, Shiro’s bedroom, Keith’s room. He deposits Keith in his room to settle in, and when he checks in on him half an hour later, he’s passed out the bed, barely visible with Kosmo curled around him.

Shiro’s only human, so he takes a picture and sends it to Pidge.

_He passed out. Come over for supper instead?_

_where is he? all i see is fur  
_ _what are you making? :/_

_Nothing, probably gonna order pizza. I don’t think space pizza is as good as the real deal._

_don’t say that in front of hunk. he’ll murder you  
_ _be there around 1800, i’ll see if matt wants to come_

_Sure!_

It’s only three in the afternoon, but Shiro hasn’t had a Friday afternoon off in a while, so he settles down on the couch and finds the most vaguely entertaining daytime television show he can find. He’s half asleep when his datapad rings with an incoming call.

It’s louder than it usually seems, and he fumbles for it desperately, before it can wake Keith up. He slaps a hand against it, and the beeping ceases as Krolia’s face takes up the screen.

“Shiro,” she says calmly, hopefully ignoring any stray hairs sticking out at weird angles. “Did I wake you?”

“Not really,” he replies, trying to smooth down his hair as surreptitiously as possible. He has a feeling it’s not working, based on the way Krolia’s mouth twitches. “I was just watching tv.”

“Ah. I’m sorry for bothering you, but I can’t get a hold of Keith. Did he arrive safely?”

“Oh, yeah, everything is fine. He fell asleep after we got home, though. He must have slept through the calls.”

Krolia sighs a little.

“Well, if he’s sleeping, I can’t really be mad at him for failing to tell me he arrived safely,” she mutters, almost as if to herself. Another sigh, fonder this time. “I’ll let you get back to your nap, then, I’m sure you need it too.”

“Nah,” Shiro replies. “Life is a little less hectic now that I’m working a desk job.”

“Yes, I’m sure you take all your annual leave in a timely matter just as often as Keith does,” Krolia says, in the exact same deadpan Keith often uses. The similarities between the two of them still take Shiro by surprise, sometimes.

“Busted,” he admits, grinning a little. “But I don’t think I need the leave as much as Keith does. He seems pretty tired.”

“He is,” she says, matter-of-factly. Her expression changes, then, into something a little more hesitant. “Thank you for letting him stay with you, I don’t think he would have agreed to this otherwise.”

“It’s not a problem,” Shiro says earnestly. There is most definitely something wrong, but it doesn’t feel right to get his answers from her, rather than Keith. He settles on trying to reassure her, at the very least.“It’ll be nice to have him around, we haven’t seen a lot of each other lately.”

“No,” Krolia says, slowly. “I guess not. Keep an eye on him for me, please.”

“Will do. I’ll let him know you called.”

“Thank you. Goodbye, Shiro.”

The screen goes dark, and Shiro sighs, setting the tablet back down on the coffee table in front of him.

There’s nothing to do but wait, he tells himself, as he searches for something slightly more interesting to watch. Keith will open up about whatever happened when he’s good and ready. This is nothing new.

But Krolia is worried about him — she keeps fairly close tabs on him, from what Keith has told Shiro, but in general she trusts him as a paladin and a Blade, and she’s never interfered in any of his missions, no matter how dangerous they were. She’s had the utmost faith in him, more than any other parent would —although Krolia is anything but a normal parent— so her concern over a missed call is concerning for Shiro, in turn.

But, as he’s asked himself so many times over the last few days, what can he do? Keith won’t appreciate the interrogation, and working with the Blades has only made him cagier — he’s much more skilled at avoiding questions he doesn’t want to answer than he used to be.

He needs to sit tight and just do what Keith asked of him, give him a place to stay and let him rest — learn to rest, Shiro reminds himself. It wasn’t so long ago that Shiro himself was being told to he needed to learn how to relax. Although look how well that had turned out — he was no longer the captain of the Atlas, but he was one of the youngest senior officers to ever grace the halls of the Garrison, working mostly as a teacher while moonlighting as an occasional diplomat.

Relaxing had never come easy for him, but it had been particularly hard after the war. Curtis had helped with that, despite how things had turned out. Keith, Shiro suspected, had never once stopped working since they’d lost the lions and restored the universe. He’d reached the end of that particular rope, Shiro suspected, and it was at least part of the reason he’d been forced to take leave.

If that was the case, Shiro could help with that.

The rest of the afternoon slips by in a quiet lull while Shiro contemplates the various ways in which he can help make Keith’s break as enjoyable as possible (hoverbike races out in the desert, picnics in the desert, letting Keith test the new sims, sweet-talking Iverson into letting he and Keith test their newest jets, ordering in as much pizza as Keith is physically capable of eating, movie nights featuring the old classics Keith had claimed to hate but dutifully watched, sandwiched in-between Shiro and Adam…). The sound of the television is a tuneless drone in the background, and Shiro is nearly dozing when his datapad beeps with a message from Pidge.

_leaving in 15. i’m starving._

If that isn’t a hint, he doesn’t know what is. What he does know is that Pidge will complain steadily until the food arrives, so he sends back an _ack_ and goes about ordering enough pizza for the four of them.

With that done, it’s time to wake up Keith. Shiro heaves himself up from the couch and stretches, raising his arms up over his head. His shoulders pop and he groans a little, shaking out his arms before padding down the hallway to Keith’s room, where the door is still ajar.

Kosmo has decided to stretch out, taking up most of the bed. Keith is pressed up against his back, arm thrown over him. It’s cute, too cute, so Shiro quickly snaps another picture and sends saves this on for himself. He’s tempted to send it to the Paladin—plus Coran and Romelle—group chat, but Keith is also in it and he’s not sure Keith is ready for a round of roasting, loving thought it is.

Kosmo snuffles and kicks a leg. Keith sighs a little, and Shiro reminds himself that Pidge will be here soon and won’t be so gentle waking him up.

“Keith,” he says lowly, stepping into the room. Kosmo snuffles again and tries to look over his shoulder at Shiro. His tail slaps against the bed once. “Hey boy, you look pretty comfy there.”

Keith groans and buries his face in Kosmo’s fur. Kosmo continues to try and turn his neck at an impossible angle, tail now thumping wildly.

“Keith,” Shiro says again. Keith makes a strangled noise and Shiro takes that to mean he’s awake and listening. “Pidge and Matt are coming over for supper, they’ll be here soon.”

“…You cooking?” Keith says, face muffled by Kosmo’s fur. Shiro can still hear the doubt in his voice.

“No.” He’s pretty sure he can see Keith’s shoulder’s relax. “I ordered pizza, thought you might miss it.”

“Oh _god_ ,” Keith groans, finally pushing himself up. Kosmo lets out a low boof and dives off the bed, skittering up to Shiro and panting happily at him. Shiro is more than happy to acquiesce to his obvious request for pets. “I do. You’re the best. How did you know?”

“I seem to remember a particular cadet who could easily put away an entire large pizza himself multiple times a week,” Shiro says, smiling at the way Keith’s hair is squashed flat on one side.

“I was a growing and hungry boy,” Keith retorts, voice still rough with sleep.

“Sure,” Shiro grins, stomach swooping when Keith grins back. “Think you can still put it away? I may have ordered too much.”

“I can try.” Keith rubs a hand over his face, sighing again. “Sorry for disappearing, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“I think you needed it,” Shiro tells him, studying his face. He still looks tired, but there’s an energy there that hadn’t been there earlier. “It’s fine, I haven’t had an afternoon off like this in a long time. I took a nap too. Oh, and Krolia called.”

Some of the amusement fades from Keith’s face.

“What did she want?”

“Just to make sure you arrived safely. She tried calling you, but I guess you didn’t hear it.”

“No,” Keith says slowly, gaze focusing on Kosmo, who was sitting with his eyes closed while Shiro strokes a hand repetitively over his head. Keith sighs. “She’s been a little over-protective lately.”

“It’s fine,” Shiro tells him, smiling at the look of bliss on Kosmo’s face. When he looks back up at Keith, he’s frowning a little. “You were exhausted, she was just checking in.”

“Did she say anything else?” Keith asks, a note of hesitancy in his voice.

“Not really. Told me to make sure you actually relax and take a break.” Keith sighs a little, but his expression turns a little fond.

“Everyone seems to think I don’t know how to relax,” he sighs. He pins Shiro with a look. “I do know how.”

“I know,” Shiro replies, in what he hopes is a soothing voice. “I think it’s just your idea of relaxing is different from most people’s.”

“I don’t like sitting around doing nothing,” Keith says, almost a little petulant. It reminds Shiro of their days in the Garrison together and makes him smile.

“You’re not exactly the type to go and lounge around on a beach all day,” he agrees.

“I could handle like maybe one day of that.”

“Well, luckily for you, there aren’t any beaches around here. Guess we’ll have to do with riding out in the desert.”

Keith smiles then, wide and pleased.

“Tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Shiro replies, already planning the day. “We can pick up some food before we go, have a picnic out on the cliffs, like we used to.”

“If we can find them.” The battle against Sendak and his forces had irrevocably changed the landscape — Keith’s shack hadn’t survived, and Shiro knows it still bothers him to this day.

“They might not be exactly the same, but I have found some cliffs out there.” Keith gives him a look, and Shiro shrugs a little. “Sometimes I need a break, so I go out for a ride.”

“I miss that,” Keith admits, quietly. He opens his mouth as if to say more, but Shiro’s datapad chirps in his hand, and whatever Keith was going to say is lost as he clamps his mouth shut.

“Pidge is bringing beer,” Shiro says as he glances at her message. Keith makes an appreciative noise. “They’ll be here in ten.”

“Guess I should wash up.” Keith raises his arms over his head and stretches, groaning a little as something in his back pops. The way his shirt rides up is extremely distracting, so Shiro focuses his attention back on Kosmo, who’s nuzzling his hip for attention.

“I stocked up the bathroom, but if you need anything let me know, we can go shopping tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. I haven’t been inside a grocery store in ages.” Shiro hears Keith’s feet hit the ground, and figures he’s safe to look up again.

“I’m going to vacuum quickly before they get here. Take your time.”

Keith grins a bit then.

“You’re really turning into an old man, aren’t you? Vacuuming for your guests and all.”

It is pretty damning, actually, but Shiro is 32 and has his own place, and he takes great pleasure in keeping it clean. “I refuse to dignify that with a response,” he settles on, and Keith laughs.

“Sorry in advance for all the fur, though. I can do the vacuuming if you want, Kosmo sheds a lot.”

“No worries,” Shiro replies, giving Kosmo a good scratch around the ears. “I missed him.”

Kosmo makes a happy wuffing noise, like he actually understands Shiro, and wags his tail.

“I think he missed you too,” Keith says. Shiro gives him one last good scratch and then sighs.

“Okay, time to act like a real adult. Be right back.”

Kosmo follows Shiro around the apartment, sniffing as he he goes. Keith comes out from the bathroom just after he finishes vacuuming, looking a bit more awake with bits of damp hair still clinging to his face. They have just enough time to get him seated with a glass of water before Kosmo starts excitedly barking at the door, and the door that Shiro had purposely left unlocked flies open.

“Kosmo!” Pidge shrieks, throwing her arms around his neck and allowing him to cover her in messy kisses. “Oh my _god_ , you’re so big! And so fluffy! I missed you!” Kosmo barks excitedly and continues to lick her face, tail wagging. Matt stands behind them with the beer in hand, looking amused.

“Just walk by him,” Keith calls out, getting to his feet. “He won’t tackle you if you don’t pay attention to him.”

“I just don’t wanna lose the beer,” Matt says, edging around his sister and Kosmo and into the room. Pidge manages to extract herself from Kosmo and bounds over to Keith, pulling him in a hug.

“It’s been a while, you asshole,” she mutters into his shoulder, gripping him tight. Shiro takes one of the cases of beer from Matt and smiles as Keith brings his arms up to hug Pidge back.

“Sorry, it’s been busy,” he says, laughing a little as Kosmo noses his way between them, before setting his sights on Matt.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you’re busy chasing after criminalsand quelling rebellions every day. Must be fun,” she replies, as though working in a lab with her brother every day hasn’t been her dream job since she could walk.

“We do humanitarian missions too,” Keith points out. Pidge quizzes him on some of his more recent missions while Shiro sets about putting the beer in the fridge, reserving four. Matt cracks them open and hands one to Keith first, whose face lights up like a kid’s on Christmas morning.

“I miss beer,” he says meaningfully, before raising the bottle to his lips and draining half of it in one go. Shiro hands Pidge a bottle, rather than watch the way Keith’s throat works, and chuckles when Keith stops for a breath with a satisfied sigh. “You guys are the best, thank you.”

“Remind me to tell Lance that you think I’m better than him,” Pidge says with a grin.

“I didn’t say that, but I’m also not going to deny it,” Keith replies. They kick it off like they’ve only been apart a few of days, and Shiro watches fondly as they chatter excitedly.

“You look happy,” Matt says lowly, holding on to his own bottle. Shiro glances over at him and decides he doesn’t like the knowing expression he’s wearing.

“I am,” he says simply. “I missed him, and Pidge did too. I think we should meet up with everyone else, have an early reunion.”

Matt raises his eyebrows and takes a very decisive sip of his drink.

“You look happier than most guys would to see their best friend,” he clarifies. “You look like you’re — ”

Whatever Matt was going to say is cut off by the doorbell. Both Pidge and Keith turn to Shiro with expectant and ravenous looks, so he pushes away from the counter in order to open the door and grab the pizza.

The spend the rest of the night eating and drinking, reminiscing about their time together on the Castle of Lions, catching each other up on the events of their own lives and those of the rest of the team (all currently based on Altea). Matt doesn’t try to engage Shiro in their earlier conversation, and for reasons Shiro isn’t exactly willing to think about right now, he’s glad for this.


End file.
